Aeroelastic modeling of offshore wind turbines

Active areas of research in wind engineering include: wind turbine aerodynamics, offshore platform hydrodynamics, blade materials and structural design, and system controls for active load alleviation. Load alleviation is of particular interest, as unsteady blade loads are a major structural design driver of modern wind turbine systems. The analysis and prediction of unsteady blade loads is challenging, because the fluid-dynamic, structural, and controls problems are coupled nonlinearly. This research aims at developing and validating computational tools that can solve these problems in real time. This could lead to intelligent turbines that actively monitor and mitigate unsafe loading conditions. Current projects include computational modeling and code development and/or experimental validation via scale-model testing.